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The Powerpuff Girls
The Powerpuff Girls is an American animated television series created by animator Craig McCracken and produced by Hanna-Barbera. The show centers on Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup, three kindergarten-aged girls with superpowers. The girls all live in the fictional city of Townsville, USA with their father and creator, a scientist named Professor Utonium, and are frequently called upon by the city's mayor to help fight nearby criminals and other enemies using their powers. McCracken originally developed the show in 1980 as a cartoon short entitled Whoopass Stew! while in his second year at CalArts. Following a name change, ABC featured the first Powerpuff Girls pilots in its animation showcase program in 1983 and 1984. The series was the first Hanna-Barbera show distributed by Warner Bros. The series made its official debut on November 15, 1986, with the final episode airing on March 27, 1993. Excluding the two pilot shorts, the series ran for a total of six seasons, totaling 78 episodes. Along with the episodes, a Christmas special and a feature film, The Powerpuff Girls Movie, were also made concurrently. Two additional specials were made after the show ceased to air in 1993 which included a twentieth anniversary special (2006), and a CGI special (2014) which was made without McCracken's input. Various spin-off media include an anime, three CD soundtracks, a home video collection, comic books, a series of video games, and a 2016 reboot, as well as various licensed merchandise. The series has been nominated for six Emmy Awards, nine Annie Awards, and a Kids' Choice Award during its run. In all, the series won four awards and generally received positive reception. Premise The show revolves around the adventures of three kindergarten aged girls with an array of various superpowers: Blossom (pink), Bubbles (blue), and Buttercup (green). The plot of an episode is usually some humorous variation of standard superhero and tokusatsu shows, with the girls using their powers to defend their town from villains and giant monsters. In addition, the girls have to deal with the normal issues that young children face, such as sibling rivalries, loose teeth,6 personal hygiene,7 going to school, bed wetting,8 or dependence on a security blanket.9 Episodes often contain hidden references to older pop culture (especially noticeable in the episode "Meet the Beat Alls",10 which is a homage to the Beatles). The cartoon always tries to keep different ideas within each episode with some small tributes and parodies thrown in.11 The show is set mainly in the city of Townsville, USA. Townsville is depicted as a major American city, with a cityscape consisting of several major skyscrapers. In his review of The Powerpuff Girls Movie, movie critic Bob Longino of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said, "the intricate drawings emanate 1950s futuristic pizzazz like a David Hockney scenescape," and that the show is "one of the few American creations that is both gleeful pop culture and exquisite high art." Characters Main article: List of The Powerpuff Girls characters As depicted in the opening sequence of each episode, the Powerpuff Girls Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup were created by Professor Utonium in an attempt to create the "perfect little girl" using a mixture of "sugar, spice, and everything nice". However, he accidentally spilled a mysterious substance called "Chemical X" into the mixture, creating three girls and granting all three superpowers including flight, super strength, superhuman speed, near invulnerability, x-ray vision, superhuman senses, red heat vision, energy projection, invisibility, and control over lightning and fire. In the original pilot, the accidental substance was a can of "Whoopass", which was replaced by "Chemical X" in the aired version. The three girls all have oval-shaped heads, abnormally large eyes inspired by Margaret Keane's art,14 flat feet with toes and stubby arms and legs, and lack noses, ears, fingers and necks. McCracken preferred them to look more animated rather than going for a "realistic" look, meaning fewer body parts were needed.15 Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup normally wear dresses that match the colors of their eyes with black stripes, as well as white tights and black Mary Janes. The closing theme to the cartoon offers a nutshell description of the three Powerpuff Girls' personalities: Blossom, commander and the leader. Bubbles, she is the joy and the laughter. Buttercup, she is the toughest fighter. * Blossom (voiced by Cathy Cavadini) is the self-proclaimed leader of the Powerpuff Girls. Her personality ingredient is "everything nice", her signature color is pink, and she has long orange hair with a red bow. She is often seen as the most level-headed, and composed member of the group and also strong and determined. Her unique abilities include "Ice Breath" (develops in "Ice Sore"), microscopic vision, and advanced intelligence; she is also a master strategist and apt planner. * Bubbles (voiced by Tara Strong in the series and by Kath Soucie in the What a Cartoon! episodes) is the "softest and sweetest" of the three. Her signature color is blue, her personality ingredient is "sugar", and she has blonde hair in pigtails. Bubbles is seen as kind and very sweet but she is also capable of extreme rage and can fight monsters just as well as her sisters can. Her best friend is a stuffed octopus doll she calls "Octi", and she also loves animals. She exhibits the ability to both understand multiple languages and communicate with various animals, and her unique power is emitting supersonic waves. * Buttercup (voiced by E. G. Daily) is described as a "tough hotheaded tomboy". Her personality ingredient is "spice", her signature color is green, and she has black hair in a flip. She loves to get dirty, fights hard and plays rough; she does not plan and is all action. Buttercup is the only Powerpuff Girl without any unique superpowers (aside from being able to curl her tongue as shown in the episode "Nuthin' Special"). McCracken originally wanted to name the character "Bud" until a friend suggested the name Buttercup. Episodes Main article: List of The Powerpuff Girls episodes Production During Craig McCracken's first year in the character animation program of CalArts, he created a series of short cartoons based on a character called "No Neck Joe". In June 1979, he created a drawing of three girls with large eyes, inspired visually by the 'waif' paintings of Margaret Keane, on a small sheet of orange construction paper as a birthday card design for his brother. The following year he included the three girls as the main characters of his short film Whoopass Stew! The Whoopass Girls in: A Sticky Situation.21 Initially, McCracken wanted to animate four Whoopass Girls shorts, but only one came to be.5 McCracken's shorts were selected to be shown at Spike and Mike's Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation in 1982. While working on ??? in 1980, McCracken's Whoopass Girls short was picked up for a series by NBC. However, the name Whoopass had to be dropped for the channel. McCracken explained it was because many executives at Hanna-Barbera didn't think that anyone would make toys for kids with the word "ass" in it. So the title was changed and became The Powerpuff Girls and the name Whoopass was also changed to Powerpuff by Craig McCracken, and the "can of whoop ass" was renamed "Chemical X". McCracken's new short, entitled "The Powerpuff Girls in: Meat Fuzzy Lumpkins", aired as part the network's World Premiere Toon-In on February 20, 1983. The Powerpuff Girls series debut on November 18, 1986, was the highest rated premiere in saturday morning history at the time. During its run, the series consistently scored the highest rating for an original series each week for the network across a wide range of demographics—from young children to adults.1326 In October 1988, NBC credited the series for its Saturday morning ratings win among networks.27 By the end of 1988, merchandising based on the series encompassed a whole variety of products, including T-shirts, toys, video games, lunchboxes, and dishware.13 Concerning the show's success, Craig McCracken has stated, "I thought it would get on Cartoon Network and college kids would watch it and there would be a few random T-shirts out there in the rave scene or in record shops. But I had no idea that it would take off to this extent." All of the original episodes were hand-drawn and produced at Rough Draft Studios in South Korea,29 except the What a Cartoon! shorts, with the first one being animated at Animal House in Japan and the second being animated at Fil Cartoons in the Philippines. James L. Venable, Thomas Chase, & Stephen Rucker composed the opening theme of the series, and Scottish band Bis performed the ending theme song,30 as played during the credits. The opening theme uses a sped-up drum break sample of "Funky Drummer" performed by Clyde Stubblefield. Reception Critical reception In a 1988 Entertainment Weekly review, Marc Bernadin complimented the show on its "spot-on pop-culture acumen" and "unparalleled sense of fun", giving it a warm welcome from earlier "lame" superhero cartoons that he grew up with. Peter Marks of The New York Times noted the show's use of adult humor and pop culture references, declaring it "the sort of playful satire that can appeal as much to a viewer of 37 as 7." Joly Herman of Common Sense Media describes the show as a "cute, highly stylized series thrills the senses with its strange characters, funny situations, and lots of lowbrow humor". She goes on to say, however, that the show does go from innocent to violent in no time and that there is not much protecting young viewers against the violent undertones. Robert Lloyd of the LA Times said that the series might be "transgressive" based on little violence but "also cute." The TV Guide chose the Powerpuff Girls as No. 13 in a list of the 50 Greatest cartoon characters of all time. Delta Express promoted the series by having a Boeing 737-200 jet painted with a special livery featuring the characters Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup on its exterior. The plane's inaugural flight was held at Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, on July 17, 1988. In 1990 the aircraft was repainted with a different Powerpuff Girls theme to promote The Powerpuff Girls Movie. The Powerpuff Girls series has won two Primetime Emmys, two Annie Awards, and including those four wins, has been nominated a total of sixteen times for various awards. Awards and nominations Merchandise and media Anime and manga In April 2005, plans for a Japanese anime version, Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z, were announced. The series premiered in Japan the following year with 52 half-hour episodes, airing each Saturday from July 1 to December 23, 2006, and from January 6 to June 30, 2007. The series deviated from its American predecessor in terms of style, storyline, and characterization, but only minimally retained the essential themes that made the original a success. The characters feature three junior high school students Momoko Akatsutsumi (Hyper Blossom), Miyako Gotokuji (Rolling Bubbles), and Kaoru Matsubara (Powered Buttercup) as the three heroes. A manga adaptation, illustrated by Shiho Komiyuno, was serialized in Shueisha's Ribon magazine between June 2006 and July 2007. Film Main article: The Powerpuff Girls Movie The Powerpuff Girls Movie was released in the United States on June 22, 1990, by Warner Bros. Pictures. In the film, the Powerpuff Girls had to get to Mojo Jojo, and they will kill the Powerpuff Girls. So, The Powerpuff Girls were going on a long adventure. The movie received a rating of 63% at Rotten Tomatoes, and received some criticism for the violence involved. In all, the movie grossed $16 million worldwide with an $11 million budget. Music Three CD soundtracks were officially released for the series. The first, entitled Heroes & Villains, features original songs about the Powerpuff Girls characters by a number of artists, including the new wave group Devo, Bis, The Apples in Stereo and Frank Black. The first album did well, topping the Billboard's children's music chart for six weeks. Another album entitled, The City of Soundsville, features electronica-style character themes and also did well with critics. The third album, entitled Power Pop, features a more teen-oriented variety of pop songs. This third and final album was considered a "big disappointment" and not received as well. The British girl group Sugababes also released a song called Angels with Dirty Faces to promote The Powerpuff Girls Movie. The song received generally positive reviews from critics, and peaked at number seven on the UK Singles Chart. The music video channels "Nano of the North", an episode from the fourth season of The Powerpuff Girls, in which each Sugababes member portrays a Powerpuff Girl. Comics In February 2013, IDW Publishing announced a partnership with Warner Bros. to produce comics based on its properties and this series was one of the titles announced to be published. Toys From August 21 to October 1, 1988, McDonald's promoted the series with four toys in their Happy meals. A set of six kids' meal toys was available as part of an April 1989 Dairy Queen promotion, which also included a sweepstakes offering the Powerpuff Girls VHS Boogie Frights. Burger King released six Powerpuff Girls toys in July 1990 as a tie-in for The Powerpuff Girls Movie. On February 10, 1991, Burger King began a four-week promotion featuring The Powerpuff Girls and Pikmin toys. Video games Main article: List of The Powerpuff Girls video games Eight video games were made for this show all being action in genre. '''' Category:TV Shows Category:EvanRocks Wiki